The question of suffering is incredibly important for saints to understand, and difficult for many to do so.
Many of the promises of blessings and glory that the Lord has given us are to be fulfilled in the future, upon His return. Our immediate concern is to give ourselves to Christ as He gave Himself for us, regardless of the suffering brought upon us. A Christian’s life is one of Service, Sacrifice, and Suffering. We are to serve, making whatever sacrifice needed to do so, and to suffer whatever consequences that service brings upon us.
Job points out the first cause of suffering, because it serves God’s purpose. He made us; He can do whatever He wants with us. Sometimes we are just cannon fodder in the heavenly war. To glorify God is such a case is to remain faithful. Albeit, do not fear, we do not suffer in vain. The saints who suffer such will be well rewarded.
—Romans 8:18 KJV For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Correction is the next cause of suffering. When suffering falls upon you, the first thing to do is examine yourself, see if there is anything God might be pointing out that you need to correct in your life. This is what Job did first and found nothing he did or did not do to be the cause. What is harder to grasp is that someone else may have to suffer for God to get your attention.
–-1 Corinthians 11:31-32 KJV For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
To teach a lesson is one other reason. God puts us through things, many times sufferings, to teach us to be faithful and help us grow in understanding and wisdom. At times, it is so we can serve others going through the same.
—2 Corinthians 1:3-4 KJV Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
Another reason is evangelistic. A saint may have to suffer to reach one the Lord seeks to present with the gospel. It is hard to believe that so few saints understand and fail in their duty to witness the saving grace of God to others. This means that the saints who do have to suffer all the more to be put in a position to witness to one who is seeking the Lord.
This can be a simple inconvenience as breaking down on the side of the road to witness to those who help you in fixing the problem, and reaches to major illnesses or even death to reach those the Lord wants reached.
A natural condition is also a reason for suffering. Being genetically predisposed to an illness is simply the product of time and chance. Your unique DNA, which genes or mutations become dominant, is just the way things go. You cannot blame God. It is man’s sins that cause the mutations we inherit. Mutations may be inherited from ancestors so far back that no one has ever heard of them, and they just surfaced with you. Science is discovering that many things can affect a mutation in our DNA.
God is not to blame for this. He created the perfect system of procreation, and man’s fall and subsequent sins perverted it. We shall, as death, be redeemed from its curse at the Lord’s return.
A saint must never use one reason to hide from the true reason. It should be reasoned by all saints that knowing God’s word is the surest way of resolving the question of why.
Whatever the reason, faithfulness is required to glorify God and His word.
1 Peter 4:16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.